Anthrax in Estrov
by danielbee.chan
Summary: Anton and Eva Gregorovich struggle to hide the deadly anthrax they have newly found from the Russian authorities.
1. Moscow

It was Wednesday. The skies were cloudy; the traffic in Moscow was horrendous as usual. Researchers Anton and Eva Gregorovich hurried to the Universitet, ignoring passing students as they looked for fellow scientist Misha Dementyev. They had important news about their ongoing research of viruses in sheep. They had found a virus called anthrax, so deadly it could wipe out herds of sheep.

They went up to the twenty-fourth floor, and saw students taking notes and doing labs in other rooms. As they walked into Room 2425, Anton saw Misha looking through a microscope, and many other scientists walking hurriedly around with various folders and books.

"Misha! We have important news!" said Anton.

"What is it?"

Eva answered him, "We have found many strains of this anthrax that kills sheep, but we have also found one unique strain."

Misha looked surprised, and asked, "What does this strain do?"

Anton leaned forward, and whispered urgently, "You mustn't tell anyone about this."

Misha nodded.

"We found a strain that can kill armies of soldiers, wipe out cities, and dilute any stream or infect any farm. It is the ultimate army chemical weapon, but we think we should hide it for now in case the government discovers it."

Misha looked alarmed, saying, "How? This anthrax is only contagious in sheep and can only kill sheep!"

Anton responded, "We experimented a bit, Misha. This is dangerous territory, but you must help us hide it until we make an antidote. This can not be released to the public before an antidote has been made."

Misha nodded.

The next day, Misha was given, in secret, the five vials containing deadly and contagious anthrax to hide. They were protected by rubber seals and secured in a locked briefcase and styrofoam, but he feared it was not enough.

He hurried to the metro, and went back to his apartment. All of the color had faded out of the brickwork, which was damp, moldy, and covered with graffiti—not artwork but political slogans, swearwords, the names of city football teams. The windows were so dirty that they looked more like rusty metal than glass. The whole thing seemed to be sagging in on itself, hardly bothering to stay upright.

He did not care. The only thing that mattered was the briefcase in his hand. He unlocked the door into the apartment. The smell of sweat and dirt washed over him. He went over to the table. Sixteen, thirty, five. Misha quickly opened the briefcase and looked at the spores in the vials. Making sure they were sealed properly, he gingerly placed them into a firm metal box.

After removing a loose brick from the wall, he placed the box in and covered the hole again. He did not bother to take a shower, instead he went over to the dirty mattress on the ground and quickly fell asleep.

He woke up five hours later, got dressed, and ate breakfast at a small, grimy cafe. When went back to his room in the Universitet, Anton and Eva were anxiously waiting for him.

"We were contacted by the government early this morning," Eva explained. "And

somehow they have discovered our research in endosperms, particularly anthrax. They have also learned of the deadly anthrax we have found, and they want to see it."

Anton told him, "We aren't sure how to do this. I certainly do not want the government to have the vials. We need to show them another form of anthrax until we have a cure."

Misha suddenly looked really tired.

"What we will do about the dangerous strains right now?" he asked.

"We have no idea. I want to start working on the cure right now."

Nobody had any idea where to begin. The group of scientists that Misha confided in could not solve anything. There was no cure as far as the deadly strain went.

At around 5:00 PM, an expensive black car stopped in front of the school. Three serious looking men came out, wearing black suits. They all went up to Room 2425.

"Where is Anton Gregorovich?" One of them demanded.

"I am here." Anton responded.

"We have our suspicions that you are developing a strain of anthrax which is considered deadly among our top scientists."

"Yes. It is over here, but we would like you to place it in an extremely safe environment for risk of contamination."

The men took the three test tubes of anthrax which were not deadly at all, and left without saying anything else.

After they had left, Anton, Eva, and Misha let out a sigh of relief. They still had to find a cure, but the involvement of the government had passed.


	2. Anthrax

The government officials took their time going to the government employed scientists. After they gave the vials to those scientists, their work would be over.

In the office buildings in the northern part of Moscow, a group of eight scientists were given the vials and the task to find out how good of a weapon it was. There was a giant lab built in to the office building, as well as several sheep. But the thing that made the whole place dangerous looking was the fact that there were three prisoners of war that were waiting to be tested on. They were looking very scared, and there was a good reason for this. They were caught in a hotel room with cameras, microphones, and other recording equipment. They had denied working for any foreign agency, but the Russians decided otherwise and used them for human experimentation.

The eight scientists started by putting on biohazard suits and moving the prisoners to isolated rooms. One prisoner decided he had enough of this. While two of the scientists were forcing him to his room, he elbowed one in the face and socked the other in the most painful area he knew. The other scientists quickly cornered him and brought him back.

As the scientists got the vials ready, the struggling prisoner suddenly fell down and stopped breathing. The two prisoners left were looking horrified and scared at the same time. They were split up into different experimentation rooms, and the scientists opened the vials for the first time. They first looked through a microscope, and not finding anything, began to drip some into glasses of water.

After a difficult time forcing the prisoners to drink the water, the scientists observed them for a long time. After around four hours or so, the scientists gave them a bigger dose. It did not seem to have any effect on the prisoners. It was past midnight when the scientists finally dialed the number written on the piece of paper, to report failure.

In the Universitet, everything was quiet. Most of the students and scientists had gone home, except for three people in Room 2425. Anton and Eva were peered nervously into a test tube, the one holding the probable cure. Misha was typing notes into a computer nearby, frantically doing research on the chemical formula of different known anthrax cures. None of them had any idea what to do next. The mice that were given the prototype antidote all died once they were in contact with the deadly anthrax. There had been no progress.

Finally, they gave up and went back to their homes. Misha went down to the metro and quickly went to his apartment, while Anton and Eva drove their car to their apartment. This one was in a better shape than most, as Anton and Eva were doing pretty well financially. Eva quickly went to sleep, while Anton watched some television, going to sleep at around 2 in the morning.

The next day was Saturday, and Eva had gotten up and was making breakfast while Anton was still sleeping. Birds fluttered in the air around the streets, and the city was still waking up. Shops slowly opened, and cars started going around. Eva had just went to call Anton up when there was an extremely loud knock on the door. Eva and Anton lived on the second floor of this apartment, and she had not heard anyone coming up. She cautiously opened the door, and suddenly, three men in all black pointing guns jumped in.

They yelled, "We need Anton and Eva Gregorovich now!"

Anton, still in his pajamas, woke up from the commotion and hurried to his wife, looking extremely frightened.

One of the men said, "You are to come with us. No questions."

Anton nodded to Eva and tried to look as confident as he could as he gripped her hand and walked out the door, surrounded by guns. Downstairs, more men with guns were running up and black cars with heavily tinted windows were outside.

These cars were the ones that people disappeared into, never to be seen again.

Anton quietly whispered to Eva, "I think I can talk my way out of this one. Do not mention about the anthrax at all."

The men pushed them forward, and split them up into different cars.

With the shout of "No!" Eva disappeared into the car and it sped forward. Anton was handcuffed first before being shoved into the car, which had a separation between the front and back row. The driver, a man who looked like he could be the general of an army, also sped forward, leaving the apartment empty.

The men with guns quickly went back up to the apartment.

One of them shouted, "Split up and search every spot you find. The real anthrax must be here somewhere. The other team radioed in, and they did not find anything in their lab at the Universitet."

Each man went to a different room, wrecking it and systematically breaking Gregorovich property. At last, after thirty minutes, they regrouped in the kitchen. None of them had found anything. One of the men had a flashdrive he had plugged into Anton's computer, and was busy copying files, hundreds at a time. When he was done, he shot the computer five times, and signaled for them to leave. They got into different cars and left the apartment, which now looked like a junk yard.


	3. Russian Interrogation

"Tell us where it is!" One of the interrogators screamed.

Anton replied, "I do not know what you are talking about."

The interrogation, intended to break down the victim, had not done anything to Anton or Eva. The interrogators, strong, tall men who had something in their eyes that warned you to stay far away, tried something different. Sleep deprivation.

After two days of continually being blasted with loud heavy metal in a soundproof room, and being sprayed on by various hoses with ice cold water, Anton and Eva looked terrible. Two of the guards walked in and dragged Anton out of the room, leaving Eva behind. Anton was pushed into another stone cold room, this time in front of the interrogator.

"Where is the anthrax?" he demanded. "If you tell us, we will let you sleep."

Anton looked like a zombie, and he was half asleep. Even still, he had not lost his courage, or his fighting spirit.

"I destroyed the last batches because it was too deadly. But the files are on a computer in the Universitet. I know how to make it again. I can show you." he lied.

He was dragged back into the soundproof chamber with Eva. That night, they were given three hours of rest before the water woke them up and an air raid siren screamed in their ears.

After a couple of hours, two of the guards dragged Anton outside the facility into a black car. The interrogator was in the passenger seat, while the driver had a gun and looked as if he wanted to kill someone. The car sped forward, and Anton quickly fell asleep.

They arrived at the Universitet. It was still nighttime, and no one was around. The interrogator opened his door and pulled Anton out. He was told to go to the lab. The driver also got out and pointed his gun to the back of Anton's arm.

"Try to run, and I will cause you more pain than you have ever known." he said in a low voice.

Anton was in such a bad condition, he could not have run even if he tried. He was crawling up the stairs when the interrogator picked him up and asked him to lead the way. They arrived seven minutes later back in Room 2425. Where the problem had started.

Anton mumbled in a weak voice, "I need a computer to look up the files."

The interrogator moved him to one of the computers, while the driver looked very impatient, nudging his gun into Anton's shoulder blade.

Anton slowly moved on to the chair and logged in. Everything in the lab was thrown and destroyed, and the computer had been brought back from the trash a few hours ago. It smelled terrible, and so did Anton. He slowly browsed through the files, and by now, the interrogator had taken a seat on one of the few chairs left, while the driver sat next to Anton with the gun still pointed. Neither person was looking at the computer now.

Anton did not move his pace at all, but the screen suddenly changed to a email page. Anton slowly typed in what he wanted to, as detailed as he could. It was imperative that the driver did not get suspicious. Anton was just about to finish the email, directed at Russia Today, a news company, when the interrogator behind him looked forward. The interrogator quickly saw the email, and took a shot at the mouse. Anton quickly moved his hand, but he was very lucky the shot missed.

"What do you think you are doing?" The interrogator demanded.

The driver had also become alert, pointing his gun at Anton and forcing him to back away from the computer. He pointed the gun straight to Anton's stomach while the interrogator read the email. It had never been sent.

The interrogator knocked Anton down and kicked him hard at the head. The driver closed the email window and shot at the computer until sparks flew out of it. They were both furious.

Anton was beaten and bloody by the time he was kicked into the car parked at the Universitet. The driver got in, and the interrogator aimed a last punch into Anton's eye as he closed the door. Anton was unconscious by now, and the car sped forward.

Eva was finally getting used to the silence in the room and finally fell asleep for five hours when she was jerked awake and forced at gunpoint into a different car. This car was headed far away.


	4. Kursk

In a small city named Kursk, eight hours south of Moscow, five black cars drove in. Three of them were full of army-trained men, while the two others held Anton, now asleep but faking unconsciousness, and Eva, who was also asleep but did not fake it.

Eva was now feeling a little more awake, from the straight eight hours of sleep, but she was very scared. Outside was snowing, and she had no idea what had happened to her, to her husband, and to Misha. She was forced out of the car, and she saw a run down train station next to her. She also saw Anton, still faking unconsciousness, being pulled out of the other car. She let out a horrified gasp.

Anton looked like he had been run over by a train. Giant bruises overlaid bloody cuts, and his eyes had black rings round them, both from the sleep deprivation and from the beating he had received.

A man told her, "You have come to the attention of a friend of the government. He has invested in many things that the government finds, and he has now seen you. Simply put, the government wants the anthrax you have, and he wants the money. We have decided to set up a giant laboratory and factory for you and your husband to manufacture the anthrax in, as well as other scientists we think have very good potential for inventing weapons. You will also be making pesticides and fertilizers as a cover."

Eva took all of this in. She was becoming more and more confused.

She asked, "My husband and I do not know how to recreate the anthrax virus."

The man simply said, "If you do not learn how again, you will be slowly tortured and then killed."

There was a shout, and Eva looked over. Anton was beaten again for his faked unconsciousness, and he was dragged back into a car. Another guard grabbed Eva, and she was forced next to him. The door closed. The whole time they were moving, Eva sobbed quietly. Neither of them had any idea where they were going to be transported next.

After a few hours, Eva saw a dark, gloomy forest ahead. The driver went around it, and it seemed to take forever. Both Anton and Eva were asleep by the time they reached the giant building. They were forced into the building, which was actually an oversized laboratory. It had a few depressed looking scientists, and a lot of old equipment.

One of the guards told them, "This will be where you will work. You will have nowhere to escape, nowhere to run to. If you try, you will be shot. You will be given housing close by. You are expected to work from 8 to 4, no exceptions. And you will be paid fifty kopecks a day. This is only for buying provisions you need."

They drove past three rows of fences with barbed wire on the top, with only one way out. It was the beginnings of a secret factory, and it was very undeveloped. The village was also very small. About a kilometer and a half away from the factory, four small huts were standing alone in the cold. A large river blocked off the eastern side of the village, and the forest was to the north. It was a very isolated, deserted plain. Anton and Eva had been sent to exile.


	5. Estrov

Fifteen years later…

The village had grown dramatically. Anton and Eva now had a five year old son, named Yasha. He was extremely smart, and it helped that the village now had access to another town, Rosna. They sent Yasha there everyday to go to school, three kilometers from where they lived. The government decided to name the hidden village Estrov, and supplies had been sent from nearby cities. Estrov now had a church, a police station, a couple of wells, and unreliable electricity.

Anton and Eva had watched it grow from the beginning, and they were still trapped in this village. They had pleaded to leave five years ago after a decade of hard work and the coming of their first child, but the government decided that Anton knew too much, and threatened to kill their child if they tried to run.

They had built their own four room house with the help of a few other prisoners. It was furnished quite nicely, and they had a television, a patch of land for growing fresh vegetables, and ten chickens. The church was built next to their home, and across it, a police station had been built. No one who was here wanted to be here.

Still, every day, buses came and picked them up. And every day, Anton did research as a chemist while Eva was chosen to document production rates and costs in the main office. They could not run. Armed militia surrounded the whole factory, guarding it from curious eyes.

One time, a man who was recently sent here was forced to mass produce more of the anthrax. He had not shown us to work one day, and Eva had watched from her office as police cars came to life, speeding around. A few minutes later, a dead body was thrown in front of the factory. He had been shot at least ten times, and had obviously given a fight. Throughout the day, there had been no conversation.

"We must try to write to Misha again. Perhaps he has not forgotten about us as the rest of the world has, and will talk with the government." Anton said one evening over dinner.

Eva asked, "How will we do that? You know there is no way to send a message to the outside world without getting caught."

Anton replied, "We could have Yasha send a letter after school from Rosna, you think that would work?"

"No!" Eva exclaimed "I will not risk my only son's life for a letter we are not sure anyone will read."

One week later, however, Anton had a major breakthrough in research. He had a new idea on how to make a cure.

"Although we could try to rush this process, I think it will take more than five years to get just half a milliliter, about the same as one injection." one of the scientists told him.

They would still hope that the cure would be made, and that it might be mass produced someday. Anton worked extremely hard for the next five years. He needed to speed up production rates of the deadly anthrax, while keeping track on the progress with the cure and keeping it a secret from the Russian government.

Nine years had passed.

The village grew both in size and population, but the government still did not care. Electricity was still lacking in most areas, and running water had not reached the village. Yasha had grown in height, but was still thin as a stick. And the whole village started to rely on one thing to forget their troubles: Vodka.

It was a way for the government to take back the money they used for paying the villagers. Anton had gotten a little more work done on the cure, and it was now finalized. The scientists still had to test it, but biologically, it was predicted to work by most of the scientists working with him.

Unfortunately, none of the workers had much time now. Investors and shareholders had learned of this factory, and all of them wanted money from the profits. None of them cared as long as they got more money. Production rates increased. Safety measures were stopped. And the employees were worked hard all day, sometimes being kept in until the quota was reached.

The anthrax was being driven to a Russian military base near Moscow, and it was fueling a war. The scientist did not know, of course. They only knew that for the rest of their lives, they would be stuck in this factory producing biological weapons. Some men were hired to make pesticides to ship internationally, but it was only a small part of the factory.


	6. Explosion

It was Sunday. Yasha was staying home while Anton and Eva arrived for work.

"Good morning Mr. Gregorovich!" One of the scientists said.

"Good morning. Any luck on the cure?" He replied.

"Yes. We have very good news. The cure has finally shown to make mice immune to sustained contact with anthrax, and we have a syringe ready for human testing, just on a paid volunteer."

It was just when he finished talking there there was a giant explosion from one of the main labs.

"Everybody stay where you are!" One of the guards screamed.

Eva had hurried over to Anton, and began to tremble. Anton quickly put the syringe back into the small box, and put it inside his jacket pocket.

"This may be our one chance to escape." he told her.

Guards were running around, making sure most of the equipment was safe. But they were were mostly keeping the prisoners in. Although they were scared for their lives, their employer had told them that if anyone was to get away the guard responsible would be severely punished.

There were still no alarms, but Anton expected it. The Russian government would not want to advertise to everyone that there had been an accident.

"Help is on the way! Stay where you are or you will be shot!" a frightened looking guard yelled.

Soon, the fire got so bad inside the factory that even the guards began to pull scientists out to the open area still in the fence. After the evacuation, the scientists just watched it burn. There were several more explosions, but everyone's attention was fixed on the weapons section of the factory.

The barbed wire fence outside was closed, but that did not stop dozens of scared people from peering in. Most were faces Anton recognized from the village.

"Quick! Now is the perfect chance to leave!" Anton quietly whispered to Eva.

Eva silently nodded, and they followed their pre-planned escape route. The syringe with the experimental cure was still in Anton's pocket. They hurried behind the crowd and opened an unlocked car. It belonged to one of the senior managers, and it was a shiny new black Lada. The keys were in the ignition, where it was everyday.

They quietly got in, and Eva drove towards the gate at full speed. The instant guards saw them, they opened fire. Bullets cut across the body of the car, and the windshield shattered. As the car moved forward, Anton tried to protect Eva by covering her while she was driving. Bullets ended up in his arms and in his chest.

"Concentrate on the driving. Don't worry, I'll be ok." Anton told her.

The Lada, at full speed, smashed through the fence at the weaker spot that Anton had noticed a couple weeks ago. The fence flew outwards as the crowd silently cheered them on. The guards had turned on a siren, but they were still not chasing after them. They had formed a line with guns surrounding the crowd to keep them from running away while the car had disappeared from sight.

In the car, Anton was gasping and slumped down. He had given the syringe to Eva, telling her to give it to Yasha if he didn't make it.

Eva told him, "We are close to our house. You will live."

She hoped Yasha would be there when they arrived. As she came onto the gravel road, and saw Yasha staring outside the house. She raised her hand to tell him to stay, and got out.

"Anton, we have to get out now."

Eva helped him and lifted him out the car to the ground. The car was a mess. A lot of the glass had been shot out, and the bodywork was in terrible condition.

"Yasha!" Anton said in a painful voice.

Yasha was looking frightened, confused, and was trembling.

"Yasha, you must leave the village immediately. You can not argue," Anton continued. "They're already on their way. Do you understand me? They'll be here in a few minutes…"

He collapsed on the ground, breathing erratically and looking very pale. Blood was still coming out, but it seemed to have stopped.

"We never told you about the factory," Eva said. "We weren't allowed to. But it wasn't just that. We didn't want you to know. We were ashamed. We were making chemicals and pesticides for farmers, like we always said. But we were making other things. For the military."

"Weapons," my father said. "Chemical weapons. Do you understand what I mean?" He went on. "We had no choice, Yasha. Your mother and I got into trouble with the authorities a long time ago, when we were in Moscow, and we were sent out here. That was before you were born. It was all my fault. They stopped us from teaching. They threatened us. We had to earn a living and there was no other way."

"This morning there was an accident in the main laboratory," Eva informed her son. "And something was released into the air. We had already warned them it might happen. You heard us talking about it only last night. But they wouldn't listen. Making a profit was all that mattered to them. Well, it's over now. The whole village has been contaminated. We have been contaminated. We brought it with us in that car. Not that it would have made any difference. It's in the air. It's everywhere."

"What is? What are you talking about?" Yasha asked.

"A form of anthrax." She replied. "It's a sort of bacterium, but it's been modified so that it's very contagious and acts very quickly. It could wipe out an army! And maybe we deserve this. We were responsible. We helped to make it…"


	7. Burning Village

"Do it!" Anton told her. "Do it now!" With his free hand, he fumbled in his pocket and took out a metal box, about fifteen centimeters long. It was the sort of thing that might contain a pen.

Eva took it. Her eyes were still fixed on her one son, her one hope. "As soon as we knew what had happened, our first thoughts were for you," she said. "Nobody was allowed to leave the factory. That was the first protocol. They had to keep us there, to contain us. But your father and I had already made plans ... just in case. We stole a car and we smashed through the perimeter fence. We had to reach you."

"The siren?"

"That was nothing to do with the accident. They set it off afterward. They saw we were trying to escape."

She drew a breath. "They sounded the alarm and the guards fired machine guns at us. Your father was hit. We were so frightened we wouldn't be able to find you, that you wouldn't be at the house.

"Thank God you're here!" Anton said. He was still holding on to Yasha, but he was breathing with difficulty.

Eva gently opened the box. There was some black velvet padding and, in the middle of that, a hypodermic syringe.

"For every weapon there has to be a defense," Eva went on. "We made a poison, but we were also working on an antidote. This is it, Yasha. There was only a tiny amount of it, but we stole it and we brought it to you. It will protect you."

"No. I don't want it! You have it!" He exclaimed.

"There isn't enough for us. This is all we have." Anton's hand had tightened on Yasha's arm, pinning him down. He was using the very last of his strength. "Do it, Eva," he insisted.

Eva was holding the syringe up to the light, tapping it with her finger, examining the glass vial. She pressed the plunger with her thumb so that a bead of liquid appeared at the end of the needle.

Anton would not let his son go. As weak as he was, he kept Yasha still while Eva brought the needle plunging down. She didn't even bother to roll up his shirtsleeve. The point went through the material and into her son's arm. She pulled out the needle and dropped the empty hypodermic onto the ground. There was more blood, Yasha's, forming a circle on his sleeve.

Anton finally let go of him. Eva closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them again, she was smiling. "Yasha, my dearest," she said. "We don't mind what happens to us. Can you understand that? Right now, you're all we care about. You're all that matters."

The three of them stood there for a moment. All three of them were breathless, shocked by the violence of what had taken place. It was like being in some sort of waking dream. They were surrounded by silence. Smoke was still rising slowly above the hills. And the village was still completely empty. There was nobody in sight.

Anton, weak as he was, sat up and looked his son in the eyes.

"You have to go into the house," he said. "You need to take some clothes with you and any food you can find. Look in the kitchen cupboard and put it all in your backpack. Get a flashlight and a compass. But most important of all, there is a metal box in the kitchen. You know where it is ... beside the fire. Bring it out to me."

He continued, "If you are not out of the village in five minutes, Yasha, you will die with us. Even with the antidote. The government will not allow anyone to tell what has happened here. They will hunt you down, and they will kill you. If you want to live, you must do as we say."

Anton was still sitting down, with Eva sobbing gently. She sat down next to him, one last time in this deserted, burning village. Yasha ran across the garden and through the front door.

"Everything will be all right. He will escape." Eva whispered to him.

"Eva, I feel the end of this coming soon."

"Hold on, Anton. We will die together, just like you always said."

Anton cleared his throat. "You must tell him to go through the forest, staying away from the main roads. Tell him to go to Moscow through Kursk Station. Tell him…" Anton moaned, and his head fell back.

"No!" Eva cried. She was weeping now, over his dead body.

After five more minutes, she dried her eyes and put her coat over her husband. The sky had darkened, and rain looked inevitable.

"It will help Yasha escape." she thought.

Yasha finally came out with his Young Pioneers uniform, wearing a large backpack, and holding a glass of water.

"I got this. For Father."

"That's good of you, Yasha. But he doesn't need it."

"But ..."

"No, Yasha. Try to understand."

Yasha fought back tears as he handed his mother the box from the kitchen.

Eva took the box and lifted the lid. Inside there was a roll of banknotes, around a hundred rubles. She gave it all to her son, along with his internal passport, a document that everyone in Russia was required to own, even if you didn't travel. Finally, she took out a small black velvet bag and handed it to him too.

"That is everything, Yasha," she said. "You have to go."

"Mother." he began.

"You heard what your father said. Now, listen very carefully. You have to go to Moscow. I know it's a long way away and you've never traveled on your own, but you can make it. You can take the train. Not from Rosna. They'll be checking everyone at the station. Go to Kursk. You can reach it through the forest. That's the safest way. Find the new highway and follow it. Do it for your father. Do you understand?"

He nodded miserably.

"You remember Kursk. You've been there a few times. There's a station with trains every day to Moscow…one in the morning, one in the evening. Take the evening train, when it's dark. If anyone asks you, say you're visiting an uncle. Never tell anyone you came from Estrov. Never use that word again. Promise me that."

"Where will I go in Moscow?" he asked.

She reached out and took her son in her arms, hugging him. "Don't be scared, Yasha. We have a good friend in Moscow. He's a biology professor and he worked with your father. You'll find him at the Moscow University. His name is Misha Dementyev. I'll try to telephone him, but I expect they'll have cut the lines. It doesn't matter. When you tell him who you are, he'll look after you."

"Why can't you come with me?" he sobbed.

"It would do no good. I'm infected. I want to stay with your father. But it's not so bad, knowing you've gotten away." She moved me away from her, still holding him, looking straight into his eyes. "Now, you have to be brave. You have to leave. Don't look back. Don't let anyone stop you."

"Mother!"

"I love you, my dear son. Now go!"

She sadly watched him break off and run away. She resisted the urge to call after him, like she did every time he did not want to do chores. She wanted to run after him, follow him until she died from the anthrax she found. She sat there, for a very long time, thinking of when she and her husband were forced to exile. Thinking of the factory, reminiscing past memories. She had lost everything, but she knew her son had gotten away. And she was still sitting next to Anton as the helicopters flew by and dropped the first payload of missiles, turning Estrov into a distant memory.


End file.
